News | Winning Design

Thursday, 25 October 2012

Shining the light on cost-effective, modern and eco-friendly-lighting is CPUT’s Kelley-Ann Jansen, who scooped the top regional prize in the 2012 Eskom Energy Efficient Lighting Design Competition.

This annual competition challenges individuals to design contemporary and attractive residential lights, using efficient lighting technologies, such as fluorescents and LED technologies.

Kelley-Ann competed against 250 entries, but thanks to her creative design – The Mill, which was inspired by the windmill, she secured first place in the regional round of the competition.

A Btech student, Kelley-Ann says she draw inspiration from the operating principles of two types of windmills.

“I looked at windmills used for generating electricity, commonly known as wind turbines and a windmill machine which converts the energy of wind into rotational energy by means of blades. The Mill is thus given the ability to direct light for a specific task by means of rotating blades,” she says.

The creative design consists of 12 veneer blades that are separated by grip nuts, which allow smooth rotating of the blades in both directions.

Kelley-Ann says she chose nuts, washers and threaded bar as these are widely available at hardware stores and are affordable.

She will compete in the competition finals that will be held on 8 November in Johannesburg.

By Nurahn Ryklief